The Seven Lawsof Teaching

How to Become a Better Teacher

© 2011 The Classical Scholar

Adapted from the original work of John Milton Gregory. All quotations are Mr. Gregory’s words.

“Teaching is the communication of experience…painting in the mind of another

the picture in one’s own mind...thus making it common to both.”

Know the material

1st law

• Prepare each lesson with fresh study.• Find analogies to more familiar facts and principles.• Study the lesson until it is shaped into clear speech.• Find the natural order of the lesson.• Find the relations of the lesson to your child.• Ask questions.• Summarize your thoughts or teach your spouse.

1 - Know the material

Gain her attention

2nd law

• Never begin until she’s listening.• Stop when she’s losing interest.• Give her a quest before the lesson.• Don’t tell her what to think.• Vary the senses.• Relate the lesson to her needs.• Appeal to her self-interest.• Eliminate distractions.

2 - Gain her attention

Use familiarwords

3rd law

• Start with words she understands.• Don’t talk too much.• Choose words carefully.• Ask questions.• Encourage her to talk.• Listen to her answers.

3 - Use familiar words

Start with what she knows

4th law

• Use what she knows to explain what she doesn’t know• Use the old to teach the new• Break the lesson into steps• Use common illustrations• Lead her to find her own illustrations from her life• Use real problems

4 – Start simply

Let her discover

5th law

• Tell her nothing that she can learn herself• Find the relationship of the material to your child• Excite interest by hinting that something worth

knowing is in the material• Write a fresh question and hide it in the book• Ask her to share her discovery with you • Do your own searching at the table with her• Don’t be impatient…give her time to explore and think

5 – Let her discover

Have her put it in her own words

6th law

• Let her explain what she’s learned• Give comments or feedback that raise fresh questions• Don’t answer questions too quickly…teach her to ask:

– Why (cause)– How (method)– Where (place)– When (time)– By whom (actors)– So what (consequences)

6 – Have her translate

Review…Review…Review!

7th law

• Before you start a new lesson, briefly review the old• At the end of the lesson, have her do a quick summary• Have her teach what she learned that night at dinner• Have a meeting at the end of the week to review and

ask fresh questions• Help her organize her notes at the end of a major

section

7 - Review

“That which is thoroughly and repeatedly reviewed is woven into the very fabric

of our thoughts and becomes a part of our

equipment of knowledge.”

Mastery changes behavior.

No knowledge

Faint recognition

Limited recall

Immediate explanations

Changed conduct

Progression of Knowledge

“The difference between a child who works for herself and the

who only works when sheis driven is too obvious

to need explanation.

The one is a free agent, the other a machine.

The former is attracted by her work, and prompted by her interest, she works on until she meets

some overwhelming difficulty or reaches the end of her task .

The latter moves only when she is urged. She sees what is shown her,

hears what she is told, advances when her teacher leads,

and stops just where and when the teacher stops.

The one moves by her own activities, and the other by borrowed impulse.

The former is a mountain stream fed by living springs,

the latter a ditch filled from a pump worked by another’s hand.”

© 2011 The Classical Scholar

Adapted from the original work of John Milton Gregory. All quotations are Mr. Gregory’s words.